Get Organized

Tips for busy activists:

Find an organizational system that works for you such as using a calendar on your phone or the wall, or post-it notes, or checking in with friends. I created a spreadsheet that lists all the organizations I know who are doing good work, who I donate to and when, newspapers I subscribe to, and the names and numbers of my members of Congress. This has enabled me to keep track of what I’ve done and to note calls to politicians.

Contact like-minded friends to share ideas and discuss how to proceed.

Think about getting a separate email just for political emails. (I wish I’d done this years ago as my inbox is flooded with both personal and political messages.)

Consider getting a Facebook account and a twitter account as a way of keeping up with ongoing news. You can sign up with minimal information and you don’t have to comment or have a lot of contacts. But almost everything happens in one of the two places first and it’s good to know what’s being shared and commented on.

Sign up for email alerts from groups that are fighting the GOP agenda. I follow the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood, the Democrats, the Color of Change, to name a few.

Read the Indivisible Guide written by former Congressional staffers. The document describes how the Tea Party movement agitated their way into power in 2010 and 2012, and how progressives can do the same thing during Trump times.

Join one of the thousands of Indivisible groups that are springing up around the country. Find them on Facebook or search your local area.

Sign up for the newsletters of your members of Congress so you know when they’re having town halls and what their stands are on some issues.

Practice innovative consumer activism, such as boycotting some companies that don’t share your values and frequenting others that stand up for democracy. Always follow companies on twitter and tweet to them about what they’re doing right or wrong.